Merry-go-round



R T JONES MERRY-GO-ROUND Oct. 11, 1932.

'2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. 15, 1930 R T JONES MERRY-GO-ROUND Oct. 11, 1932.

Filed Jan. 15, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 11, 1932 UNITED PATENT OFFICE R T JONES, OF PERRY, IOWA MERRY-Gomorrah 7 Application filed January 15, 1930. Serial No. 420,894.

Another and further object of the inventi'on is to provide a merry-go-roundihavinghinged vanes arranged to be engaged by the wind at certain portions: of the rotation of the machine and to drop down to inoperative position during other portions of suchrotation.

. Still another object of theinvention isto I provide improved means for mounting :the structure for rotation and for insuring ample support and balance at all times during its rotary travel, regardless of the distribution of weight thereon.

Another object of the invention is to'provide an improved adjustable seat to' be occupied by an operator.

With these and other objects in-view my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects' contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated, in the accompanying drawings, in

which: Figure 1 is a plan view of'my improved merry-go-round. j Figure 2 is a side'elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the merry-go-round removed from its support Figure 4' is a vertical section'radially of the device on the line 4l4 of Figure 1 Figure 5'is a detail sectionillustrating the j adjustable seat and driving wheel constructionon the line 5 -5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is adetail horizontal section through the adjustable seat structure on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a perspective view illustrating one of the brakes employed for checkin'gthe speed of the merry-go-round.

A suitable foundation and support is ro vided for the merry-go-round which preferably consists of a concrete slab 1O resting on or partially within the groundand this slab may be and preferably is provided with metal track facing 12 of annular form.

The concrete slab 10 is formed at its center with an upwardly opening socket 14 equipped with a step bearing 16 preferably of anti- A friction type.

The merry-go-round proper has ace'nt'ral post 18 which has its lower end arranged to be mounted in the socket 14 in contact with the step bearing 16.

'The post 18 is provided near itslower end with an annular plate 20 and near its'upper end with an annular plate 22. A series of supporting arms 24; are fixed to and radiate from the lowermost plate 20 and a series of supporting arms 26 are fi'xed't'o and radiate from the uppermost plate 22.

v The outer ends of the lowermost supporting arms 24: are rigidly connected by platform members 28 and also seat 'membe'rs3'0 Y which are elevated relative to the platform members. p

The uppermost supporting arms 26 are of less length than the lowermost supporting arms and are turned downwardly at their outer ends to form supports for backrest members 32 which cooperate with seat members 30.

, The platform members 28, seat members 30 and backrest members 32 provide accommoc'lations for children who wish toride'on the merry-go-round and it will be noted'th'a-t these members extend substantially around the device so that considerable capacity is provided for occupants.

The outer ends of the lowermost supporting' arms 24; also are rigidly connected by angle bars 84 which serve as foot rails for the occupants. 1 The foot rails 34:lendrigidity to the structure and also are desirable for engagement by the feet of the'occupantsto V ranged and are designed to. engage the track '50,, i Ltweencertain of the-crossb'ars 44 .and other 1 I ticallyr on the backrest 66 secured to the uppermost supporting arms 26, so'tha't the machine is substantially on- "closed. In this connection it will be noted =2 wardly and are attachedflat their other ends 7 to the uppermost supporting arms 26. The handrails are for the convenience of occupants in mounting to or dismounting from the machine, and also for applying force to set itmotion. I i

40 whichare-arranged on opposite sidesof the center post 18 and. are designed to travel- .on' the track 12. 'Ialsoprovidea pair of idler wheels 42 which are oppositely/arat times although they are, normally spaced slightlyab ove the surface 'of the track as indicated "in Figure 2, The wheels-4O and 542 may be; supported by some cross bars 44 which connect {the lowermost supporting iarms 24.-

-byiotherbars46 parallelthereto in such manspaced aslight. distanceabove the-track 12.

i In case of unevendistribution of, theweight f.. 1.011 the merry-'go-round,ior in the even't the track-surfaces arenot entirely level and uni form, the wheels 42 will engage the track at times andewill thus serve to balancejand propferly support the merry-go-round-jfor rota-' 151011. g V i The driving wheels 4Q are arranged bewheels and frame of the machine to compen-' sate for uneven track surfaces and for un- As show'n' in F igures-4 and ,5, each of the axles 48 is journaled in a bearing 40 which rmounted in a boxing- 52suspen'ded from the cross bars 46iand otherwisesuitably supportthat'the platform members 28 and foot rails in line with the peripheral platform and seat,

34 are arranged to travel quite close tothei of the cock pits and is provided at its outer I 1 actuation'to turn the driving wheels. I'have provided a pair of driving wheels and B and I have hereshown' the seat adjustv.wardly;above the remaining walls and is des- ;.vided o:n its rear face with apair of vertical- 7 :meral 78andis ner that their per pl1eries are normally o gagethe n0tches'76 of the respective angle bars 72 and 74.

equal; distribution-- of 7 weight on the machine.

ed as by bars 54 connecting certain of the lowermost supporting arms 24. A relatively stiff coil spring 56 is mounted in the boxing 52 between the bearing 50 and the cross bar 46 and serves as a cushioned means for transmitting weight from the frame'of the machinetoj the driving wheel-'40. 7 Opposite'each'of thedriving wheels 40 and at the outermost periphery of the machine,

I have vprovided an open cock pit and cook pits are designated as A and B.

4 Eachjof the cock pits A and B is formed by cutting away portions of the platform members and'seat members for mounting a box these wall58 in's'uch opening, said wall being open atits bo tto m and atitstop.

t The driving shaft or axle 48' of each of the driving wheels 40 is, extended acrossone ;.85 end with a bearing 60 carried by the outer wall of the cockpit. YVithin the cock pit each driving. shaft 48" is provided with opposed cranks 62 and 64 which are adaptedvfor foot A seat is provided in-each ofthe cock pitsA ably mounted-on and carried the rear wall of the cockpit, which wall is extended upignated by the, numeral 66, said member forming a backrest for'theseat. I a

7 Th backr'est66 is formed with spaced slots 68 and7Qarranged vertically and is also proly arranged anglebars 72 ai1d74, each of Y a y a [which is formed-witha plurality of notches p The pivots of the idler wheels 42 are supr ported by certain of the cross hars 44 andsass ,1-

The seat memberis designated by the nuriesa shoe 82 v I ward face of the backrest '66. 3 i M 1 .The seat member- 7 8 is formed at itsrear which loosely engages the forvmargin with a pair of rearwardlydirected 110 fingers v 84, which fingers l extend [loosely ..through the slots 6 ,8. and 7 0 and terminatein laterallyxdirected lugs-86. which are adapted The seat'memhe'r 7 8' may be adjustedverby p ng tr ariwardly a sufficient distance tocause the lugs 86 to dis'engage from the notches 7 6, after which the seat. member may be moved up or 129 down the desireddistance. 7 When placed in 'theldesired position the lugs 86 are again.

caused to enter certain ofjthe notches 7 6 and the seat assin'nesits normal horizontal .posi- 'tion with the shoe 82 resting againstthe'back 12 'membjer66 and,-'t'ogether with'said lugs,-form V w 'ing a's'upport': for theseat memberjf is of Hfshape' in plan view and is slidably' The occupants of the-cockpits 3116B 1 may adjust the seat'members 78-to theldeprovided with a rearwardly and downwardly inclined brace 80 which car the cover members 36 of the machine and are pivotally attached at their leading edges to the uppermost supporting arms 26 by means of hinges 90. The trailing edges of the vanes 88 normally are held in slightly elevated position by means of stop lugs 92 carried by the cover of the machine so that air currents traveling in the proper direction may engage beneath the vanes. and cause them to swing upwardly on their hinges so that the air pressure will assist in causing the machine to rotate. When the machine has turned far enough that a given vane 88 is carried out of I the course of the wind, it will be dropped back to inoperative position with its rear edge resting on a lug 92 until such time as said vane again comes into the course of the wind. In

this manner a relatively slight wind will ren- V der considerable assistanceinturningthe merry-go-round. I have also provided a stop 94 fixed to the cover of the machine adjacent the leading edge of each vane 88 to limit the upward movement and thus provide the necessary resistance to the wind currents.

At times it may be desirable to employ braking means for retarding or stopping the travel of the machine and for this purpose I have provided the mechanism shown particularly in Figure 7.

A brake arm 96 is pivotally attached at its forward end by means of a bracket 98 'to one of the lowermost supporting arms 24 and carries at its rear end a brake shoe 100 adapted to engage the track 12.

A rock shaft 102 is ournaled in bearings 104i and has at one end a crank arm 106pivotally attached by means of a link 108 to the rear end of the brake arm 96.

The opposite end of the rock shaft 102 is provided with ahand crank 110 located adj acent one of the cock pits and adapted for manipulation to force the brake shoe 100 downwardly into frictional engagement with the track surface. If desired, a spring 112 may be employed for raising the brake shoe when manual pressure released. If desired, one of the brake devices may be located adjacent each of the cock pits A and B.

My improved merry-go-round is of substantial and durable construct-ion and is compact and of considerable passenger capacity for its size. e

The method of mounting the merry-goround for turning movement on the step bearing for the center post 18 and on the driving wheeis 40 makes it very easy to propel and it has been found that this merry-go round can easily be operated by one or two small children and also that the wind vanes greatly assist in the propulsion of the ma.- chine.

I claim as my invention 1. In a merry-go-round, a support including a step bearing and a track concentric therewith, a center post having its lower end engaging in said step bearing, a frame including arms radiating from said post, a substantially annular passenger support carried by said arms, driving wheels carried by said. frame and, adapted to travel on said track, means carried by the frame for causing rotation of said wheels, and wind vanes arranged in substantially horizontal positions on top of the frame, said vanes being hinged at their leading edges whereby they may be raised by wind currents to provide propelling means for the device.

2. In a merry-go-round, a frame, a stationarytrack, a driving wheel on the frame arranged to engage and travel on the track, a cock pit at the outer part of the frame opposite said driving wheel, a seat in said cock pit, a driving shaft fixed to said driving wheel andextending within the cock pit, said driving shaft being formed with opposed cranks for foot actuation by an occupant of the seat in said cockpit.

3. In a merry-go-round, a frame arranges for rotary movement, passenger supports on said frame, a substantially imperforate cover on the top of the frame, and a series of wind vanes on said cover and hinged at their leading edges, together with means for slightly supporting the free edges of said vanes and means to limit upward swinging on their hinges, whereby said vanes will be raised by wind currents engaging them from the rear and will serve as propelling means for the merry-go-round, and will drop by gravity to inoperative position when they have moved out of the course of the wind currents.

4. A merry-go-round, comprising a central support, a track concentric therewith, a frame having arms radiating from said support and rotatable thereabout, a substantially annular passenger support carried by said arms, a driving wheel carried by said frame and adapted to travel on said track, means carried by the frame for causing rotation of said wheel, and wind vanes arranged on said frame, said vanes being hinged to the frame at their leading margins whereby they may be lifted by wind currents to provide propelling means for the device.

Des Moines, Iowa, December 27, 1929.

R T JONES. 

